Bottles made of rigid fragile materials, such as glass or some rigid plastic materials, are conventionally protected during shipping and storage in a variety of ways. Protection methods and techniques employ diverse materials and techniques to reduce contact between adjacent bottles. Such protection is particularly important when the subject bottle contains liquid, perishable or dangerous materials. For example, there is a well recognized need to protect bottles containing beverages, such as alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, during shipping and storage.
For efficiency of distribution and ease of use, glass beverage bottles are packaged in multiple bottle packages such as a packages conventionally referred to as a six-pack, i.e. a package containing 6 bottles, or alternatively a corrugated cardboard box containing for example 12 bottles. The bottles in a typical six-pack are separated from each other by thin cardboard partitions. A corrugated cardboard box usually employs corrugate cardboard partitions between the bottles. Cardboard boxes, when provided with a cardboard top cover and bottom, combined with a snugly fitting content of rigid bottles such as glass bottles, are convenient and relatively sturdy packaged units for shipping and storage.
Conventional bottle packaging techniques include bottle arrangements wherein bottles are packaged in an upright position, i.e. substantially perpendicular to the bottom of the packaged unit, and horizontally, i.e. substantially parallel to the bottom of the packaged unit. Alcoholic beverages, such as wines, are examples of beverages that are in some instances packaged in horizontally positioned bottles. It is generally known that organic cork materials that are typically used in closing wine bottles, dry out and shrink during storage if using bottles that are stored in an upright position. Cork shrinkage is known to result in air penetration in the bottle. Exposure to air typically results in lowering the quality of the wine. Horizontally shipped and/or packaged wine bottles tend to keep the cork moistened, thereby reducing or preventing cork shrinkage.
Once a product, such as bottled beverages, has been delivered to a retail store or for example a large volume user, such as a restaurant, bottles are removed from the shipping package. These bottles then lose the protection against breakage and unsightly surface damage that was provided by using a container such as a six-pack or a corrugated cardboard box.
When shelving individual bottles, for example wine bottles in a retail store, it is generally considered advantageous to store the wine bottles in a horizontal position particularly when the bottles are closed with an organic cork material, as described above.
Wine bottles typically have a cylindrical shape, they therefore tend to roll sideways when stored on a horizontal display surface such as a shelf. Wine racks are usually employed to keep wine bottles in a horizontal position and to prevent sideways rolling of horizontally stored cylindrically shaped bottles such as wine bottles.
The protection materials and techniques that are used during shipping and storage are usually not the most suitable materials and techniques for retail merchandising. In retail merchandising, bottled beverages such as wines bottled in glass bottles are typically inserted individually into a paper bag for the buyer's convenience and for protection of the bottle against breakage or unsightly chipping. Shipping and storage protection materials, such as cardboard boxes, are generally less suitable for retail merchandising, while six-pack containers are widely used.
Conventional bottle sleeves are disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,718,733 (Kilmartin, 2004), U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,564 (Capy, 1992), U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,896 (Sohma, 1989), U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,726 (Massey, 1972), U.S. Pat. No. 2,342,600 (Potter, 1944), U.S. Pat. No. 2,333,328 (Merrill, 1943) and U.S. Pat. No. 2,331,085 (Sterling, 1943). However, these conventional bottle sleeves are believed to lack suitable features or means for preventing sideways rolling of cylindrical bottles when stored on a horizontal surface.
Accordingly, a need exists for a multi-purpose bottle sleeve that provides protection of bottles during shipping and retail distribution, and that provides a means for reducing or substantially preventing sideways rolling of cylindrically shaped bottles.